Tuesday, August 14, 2012

This is a question that has been on my mind for some
time.It seems that there are many
different ideas floating around about what gossip is.Over the years I’ve heard some say that gossip is sharing
derogatory information about someone with a third party.Others have defined it more narrowly as
sharing untrue derogation information
about someone. Some
have said gossip is talking about someone’s sin to someone other than the
person who committed it.Others
say it is simply the repeating of rumors.

Who is right?What is gossip?I decided
to do a study on the subject and see what the Bible has to say.In this first post in a
series on gossip, I’d like to share with you a little about some key words from the original languages.In future posts, we dig a little deeper into related issues.

When we do a word study in the Bible, the more uses of the
word we can find the better.This
allows us to take a greater sample and it gives us a better picture of how the
word is used and what it means.With “gossip”, we really don’t have a whole lot to go on.The English Standard Version uses
“gossip” and its various forms only four times – once in the OT and three times
in the NT.However, the underlying
Hebrew and Greek words are used more than that, which does give us a little
more to go on.

The main Hebrew word in the OT translated “gossip” by most
translations is ribah.It is defined by various lexicons as whispering, defamation, evil report, and
rumor.The following are some
places where the word is used:

Psalm 31:13 For I hear
the whispering of many-- terror on
every side!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

Jeremiah 20:10 For I
hear many whispering. Terror is on
every side! "Denounce him! Let us denounce him!" say all my close
friends, watching for my fall. "Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can
overcome him and take our revenge on him."

Everyone knows what whispering is, but these contexts imply whispering against someone, scheming
with others about someone.There is
the intent to hurt the person.But
the word is used in other places, too:

Proverbs 10:18 The one
who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

Several lexicons consider slander/defamation and gossip to
be close synonyms.Defamation is
the making of a statement (true or false) about someone, with the intent to cause
damage to their reputation.Slander is similar, but the information is expressly false.

Proverbs 25:9-10 Argue
your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret, lest
he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.(More literally, “your evil report.”)

Again, this usage seems to involve a damaged reputation, or
“ill repute.”

Ezekiel 36:3Therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the
Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all
sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you
became the talk and evil gossip of
the people. (Several other translations use “evil report,” “slander,” or
“whispering.”)

These passages all carry the idea of a bad or evil report
that is harmful to the person’s reputation.When we combine this idea with the element of whispering we arrive at what one lexicon
describes as “secret slander.”

But what do we find in the NT?There is one main word used in the NT, a verb, psithurismos. (Rolls right off the
tongue, doesn’t it?)Let me share
the definitions of this word from two good lexicons:

1)Greek-English Lexicon of the NT (Louw-Nida)
- providing harmful information about a person, often spoken in whispers or
in low voice, with the implication that such information is not widely known
and therefore should presumably be kept secret

2)Greek-English Lexicon of the NT
(Bauer-Danker) – sharing derogatory information about someone that is
offered in a tone of confidentiality

These are much fuller definitions than we find in the Hebrew
lexicons, but the question is, are they accurate?Unfortunately, the contexts in which the word is used in the
NT do not provide much help.The
verb form of this word is used only once in the NT, in 2 Cor 12:20, For I fear that perhaps when I come I may
find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish--that perhaps
there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.Here it appears in a list of vices, but
without enough context to get a feel for what the word means.

The noun form is also found in only one place, again without
much context that is helpful: Rom 1:29 They
were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips…

While the NT texts are not super helpful in helping us to
get a feel for the Greek word psithurismos,
the definitions given by the Greek lexicons do fit nicely with what we’ve seen
from the corresponding OT word ribah.There is an element
of secrecy and an element of a bad report or the sharing of derogatory, harmful
information.Implicit is the possibility
that the information will cause damage to the person’s reputation.A very succinct definition could be secret defamation or slander.

Beginning next time, we’ll look at some of the relevant
passages to try to determine what the Bible teaches more broadly about this and
other sins of the tongue.Until
then, consider your speech over the last 48 hours.Have you secretly shared harmful information about someone
to someone else?There will be
much time for introspection over the coming weeks.May the Lord help us to guard our mouths and hearts for the
good of the body and for the glory of God.

No comments:

sitemeter

Welcome!

Providence Bible Fellowship is a reformed church near Cincinnati in West Chester, Ohio. The purpose of this blog is to edify the body of Christ through the writings of our elders and teachers. We pray that you will be blessed by it.Click hereto visit our website.